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“Some colleges, schools in Chennai oldest in country”

LOOKING BACK: Historian S. Muthiah addressing students as part of the ‘Madras Day’ event held at the Madras Christian College in Tambaram recently.

Special Correspondent

TAMBARAM: Some of the prestigious colleges and schools in present-day Chennai were the oldest to be established anywhere in India, city historian S. Muthiah said.

Speaking on the theme ‘Madras – its educational heritage’ as part of the Madras Day Celebrations organised by the Department of History of Madras Christian College in East Tambaram recently, he said that the St. George’s School in Chetpet, the Queen Mary’s College, the Guindy Engineering College and the Madras Veterinary College, to name a few, were the oldest institutions to be established.

Mr. Muthiah said the St. George’s School on Poonamallee High Road was the oldest school to be started in India. It functioned as the St. Mary’s Charity School at the St. Mary’s Church in Fort St. George in the early 1700s.

John Anderson, in whose memory the main hall of the MCC in Tambaram has been named, started the General Assembly School in St. Andrew’s Kirk, Egmore, in 1835, before it shifted to Armenian Street. It was re-named MCC School before becoming a college later.

The Guindy Engineering College, established in 1794, was the oldest technical institution outside Europe. The Madras Veterinary College founded in 1908 was the oldest in India. The first college for women, Madras College for Women, was started in 1914 before being re-named Queen Mary’s later.

He released ‘Pyrsos,’ a newsletter brought out by the History Association, the first copy of which was received by Alexander Jesudasan, College Principal.